This invention relates to porosimeters and to methods of assessing pore size characteristics, such as pore size distribution.
A widely accepted standard apparatus and method for testing assessing pore size is to be seen in ASTM F 316-80 by the American Society for Testing and Materials.
According to such apparatus and method, the material is saturated with test liquid, held in a holder and subjected to progressively increasing pressure of a test gas. The initial breakthrough of gas through the wet filter is noted by a bubble point detector and thereafter the relationship between pressure applied and flow through the material is observed using a pressure gauge and a rotameter downstream of the material and directly impelled by the flow of gas. Such prior art test method is highly dependent on the manual skill and dexterity and the intellectual ability of the operator requiring as it does the simultaneous operation of the inlet pressure regulator and observation of the pressure gauge and the flow rate. Thereafter these readings have to be converted manually by drawing graphs and these are then interpreted. Despite these drawbacks this method is one of the accepted methods of testing porosity.